Pakistan: Fighting Haqqani Network priority for US

A new bill introduced in the United States Congress has delinkedthe Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) from the Haqqani Network.

Through this, U.S. lawmakers are sending a clear message to Islamabad that fighting the Haqqani Network is their first priority.

According to the Dawn, the new U.S. Congress has removed a provision from the National Defence Authorisation Act 2018, which had connected the two.

The removed provision would have required the U.S. Secretary of Defense to certify that Pakistan has taken steps to "significantly disrupt" the activities of both Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Haqqani Network.

This new bill is indicative of the United States desire to train its focus entirely on Afghanistan.

However, since LeT is already a listed terrorist organisation, Washington will continue to ask Islamabad to stop the group from carrying out attacks inside neighbouring India.